|
This one is going to be short and to the point. Simply, the game is only worth your time if you like exploration games with speedy elements. Said it would be short, didn't I?
All joking aside, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal is good, but still won't be winning any awards. First we have the story, which - just like its WiiU counterpart - is barebones. Amy is fighting Lyric, then when he's knocked down, calls for 'help' on the communicator. Lyric then knocks Amy out. Sonic decides to gather his friends and go rescue Amy - and that's it. The cutscenes in the middle don't even matter. They don't even impact the story whatsoever, apart from saying where you are and how you got there.
0 Comments
Smash Bros. on a console. Where most would agree it works the best. But after the 3DS version serving as a big slice of this generation's Smash Bros. pie, would the WiiU version be able to fight its way out of the shadow of its handheld sibling?
The year of 2014 was a big one for me. Nothing too fancy, but quite a bit of stuff. 2014 was also a year in which I continued trends which I'd set in 2013. For instance - going to ComicCon. In 2013, it was my first ever ComicCon, up at Telford. Went with a few friends, and ultimately ended up doing little. In 2014, at Birmingham, I went with one of the friends I'd gone with last time. And this time did a lot more. In fact, I met Brian Murphy, star of George and Mildred and Last of the Summer Wine. Though I didn't talk all that much with him [nerves, can't really blame me], I did get a photo with him, as did my friend. And there was also a Star Wars parade. Who can't love a parade?
Since video gaming is one of my most favourite hobbies, I decided to split this from the main 2014 review. That will follow up after, since this is probably going to be longer. I was going to do one of these last year, but messed it up.
Over the course of the year, I've been buying a number of games away from their releases in the hopes of getting them cheaper. Of course, the Steam sales do help, as well as those on Origin, but sometimes you can find games without the help of sales. Both Pikmin 3 and Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympics 4 were bought off Amazon at reduced prices. Harvest Moon: A New Beginning was also bought at a reduced price as well. Wii Party U was bought more for the free remote than the game itself, but I've still had fun with the game. Then I bought an official Mario remote later on. That's the thing with me - I hardly ever trust unofficial accessories. Pokémon might look the same to outsiders, but there are numerous changes, whether big or small, that affect the gameplay in some way. Generation 6 of the Pokémon games made one of the biggest changes to the series - with the transition to actual 3D models instead of sprites, as well as introducing the fairy type - and Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire, the next set of games in Generation 6, offer even more to change up the game.
The game that looked like a reinvention, but failed on all accounts. If you look up a list of all what was promised, you could probably count what was achieved on one hand. Though maybe that's an exaggeration. It certainly doesn't play like a Sonic game, doesn't have many of the elements you'd expect from a Sonic game, thus a reinvention. But in a worse state than better.
What can I say about this series? It comes once a generation, and each one improves the formula in some way, though can oftentimes sacrifice other parts of said formula. This generation though, we have two Smash games - and for the first time on a handheld. The 3DS version handles the basics, but does it really have the power to handle the grunt?
Said I would do this, to give my feelings on the show, and whether the rest of the world should be excited for this when it finally airs elsewhere. The answer is - yes.
I can literally say this is one of the best crafted cartoons of Sonic I have watched. Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog felt like it was nothing but a comic fest. Nothing but joke after joke with little story. Sonic the Hedgehog and Sonic X felt more serious in nature, a bit too off tone, and relying too much on gimmicky power ups so as not to make Sonic too powerful all the time. And Sonic Underground... It tried to strike the right balance, but it either came off as too annoyingly comic or too serious about itself. Well, this was interesting. I was already anticipating the release of this, and the forty minutes of greatness has finally arrived. What we have here is two episodes put together to form a season opener, or a conjoined arc, if you will.
The first half gives all the main characters time in the spotlight. The second half expands on them. I'll try not to go into that much detail on plots this time, but it should still be a decent review. It was a real surprise when The Clone Wars ended, though not totally unexpected. Whisperings began as far back as before Season Five even aired. With the change in time slot on American Cartoon Network, some believed the show was to end soon. After all, Disney had just recently acquired Lucas Film at the time.
Season Five airs as normal, and then we get the video of Dave Filoni announcing the end of The Clone Wars, but that the stories weren't finished. Indeed they weren't. Lost in the World.
Don't get me wrong. This game is good. But something is lacking within. It's a typical Sonic affair. Eggman's up to no good, and Sonic and Tails set out to stop him. Amy and Knuckles are in the game too, but Knuckles hardly does anything, and Amy is just for contact with the Earth below, and due to a very specific plot point, I can't say more than that. The Lost Hex, where the action takes place, is home of the Zeti, who are under Eggman's control. The story has some interesting twists in it, but the end result can be predicted. So, I was thinking about my reviews that I have done on here so far, and feel that they have been very varied in their style and approach. Especially the games. If anyone has been on Neoseeker and read my reviews on there, you'll know what I'm talking about. This is for game reviews only, however, and when I do other reviews, I will outline how I will go about them first.
From now on, I'll be doing a free flow approach, starting with what I feel is the main point of discussion. From there, I will cover a lot of other things as well that are needed for that game. This will be varied, depending on how much time is needed to cover it. Once that is over, I will then list ten pointers, both good and bad, which will form the basis of the entire review. There will be no score, although the good pointers of the review will sort of form the basics of that score. Eight good points will be eight out of ten, for example. Things on Wheels is an RC racing game found on XBLA for 400 points. A good deal for the content it hosts. Or so it seems. The game features twenty tracks set over four episodes, making it five per episode. What makes it interesting is it's story. Even if there isn't much of it. A millionaire hosts an RC racing car tournament every year in his mansion. Your uncle has a champion in the tournament, but that champion acquires a broken wrist, and so you have to take his place. You start by going to the prologue, reading the first blog entry which explains all this, then head out to the sandbox to practise driving.
The way this game has turned out surprises me. EA showed off the footage for the console versions, showing us the open world, the high octane police chases, and the races through traffic. Then they said the whole thing would come to the Playstation Vita as well. Only recently was it confirmed that the PSV version would be exactly like the console versions but with a few minor adjustments.
How true to their word they were. |